Senate adjourns for lack of quorum; resumes March 12

THE Senate on Tuesday adjourned its plenary without considering any item on the Order Paper, due to lack of quorum.

The lawmakers thereafter adjourned sitting till March 12 for the resumption of legislative duties.

According to the chamber, the adjournment would enable its members to participate in the ongoing campaigns for the governorship and state assembly elections coming up on the 9th March.

When Senate President Bukola Saraki, who called the chamber to order at 10:45 am, only eight Senators including the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, were present.

Following this situation, the Senate Majority Leader, Ahmad Lawan ( APC Yobe North) quickly raised a point of order to the effect that the sitting could not continue to hold because of lack of required quorum.

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The constitution and the rules of the Senate indicate that one-third of the Senate (37 Senators) would be required to form the quorum for the business of the day. Order 10 (1) of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 as amended also supports that position.

The Senate leader told the chamber that many Senators were still held back in their senatorial districts because the results of their elections had not been announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Accordingly, he moved that the Senate should adjourn sitting till March 12, as he expressed optimism that INEC would have by then completed the governorship and House of Assembly elections scheduled for March 9.
Senate Minority Whip, Philip Aduda, seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.

However, putting the question, the President of the Senate expressed concerns about the delay by the Senate ad-hoc committee set up to process the bill on the National Minimum Wage. The Committee has not submitted its report on the bill.

Chairman of the ad-hoc committee and Senate Chief Whip, Sola Adeyeye ( APC Osun Central), however, explained that the delay was caused by the failure of the committee to sit as members could not turn up due to preparations for the last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

He also told his colleagues that he made efforts to cause the committee to work on the bill through electronic deliberation but did not get the attention of other Committee members.

When asked whether the committee would conclude its work when the elections are over, Adeyeye said that he had some health challenges to attend to, and therefore, could not assure the Chamber of the time frame to complete work on the bill.

He disclosed that he might have to travel out of the country in the near future to attend to his health.

Tuesday’s abrupt adjournment was the third since the commencement of 2019 electioneering activities.